That Noble Dream: The 'Objectivity Question' and the American Historical Profession

Preface Introduction: nailing jelly to the wall Part I. Objectivity Enthroned: 1. The European legacy: Ranke, Bacon, Flaubert 2. The professionalization project 3. Consensus and legitimation 4. A most genteel insurgency Part II. Objectivity Besieged: 5. Historians on the home front 6. A changed climate 7. Professionalism stalled 8. Divergence and dissent 9. The battle joined Part III. Objectivity Reconstructed: 10. The defense of the West 11. A convergent culture 12. An autonomous profession Part IV. Objectivity in Crisis: 13. The collapse of comity 14. Every group its own historian 15. The center does not hold 16. There was no king in Israel Appendix: manuscript collections cited Index.